Cyprus construction output picks up in third quarter

House prices up 5% in 2005

Output growth in the construction sector accelerated in the third quarter of 2005, according to data from the Statistical Service CYSTAT, rising by 3.0% year on year, compared with 1.2% year on year in the second quarter and 1.9% year on year on the first.

The upward trend was entirely the result of building construction (as opposed to civil engineering), which rose by 4.2% year on year in Q3, up from 3.2% in Q2.

Civil engineering, on the other hand, contracted for the third quarter in a row, though at a slower pace than in previous quarter. Output of civil engineering registered a 0.9% decline compared with the same period of the previous year in the third quarter, compared with a drop of 5.2% in the second and 4.8% in the first.

Total construction output in the first three quarters rose by 2.0%, lower than the 4.5% recorded in 2004.

House price inflation eases

Meanwhile, the BuySell Home Price index, produced by the economic research company S. Platis Economic Research for BuySell real estate agent, show that asking prices for residential property rose at a slower pace in 2005 than in 2004.

According to the index, which was recently rebased, asking prices rose by 2.6% in 2005, compared with a rise of 7.2% in 2004.

Fiona Mullen